EXCLUSIVE: Coulthard assesses Hamilton’s chances of 2026 title push after ‘world-class’ Barcelona victory

Former F1 driver turned television pundit David Coulthard believes that Lewis Hamilton is back to his best – and has a genuine shot at fighting for the 2026 world title – following the Briton’s breakthrough win for Ferrari in Barcelona.

Hamilton put the memories of a challenging debut season with the Scuderia behind him by storming to victory in last Sunday’s encounter, overcoming the two Mercedes drivers on an aggressive three-stop strategy – and via a late-race Virtual Safety Car.

Amid a hive of activity in the paddock, as F1 personalities past and present commented on Hamilton’s latest achievement, 13-time Grand Prix winner Coulthard shared some of his own thoughts with F1.com.

“I feel a mixture of absolute admiration and relief,” said Coulthard, who now serves as an F1 Ambassador and commentator for various broadcasters. “The relief is because it’s not comfortable to question the quality of a driver like Lewis.

“Over the last couple of years, especially in our roles, where you have to look at the data, and ask the questions based on that… Lewis’ whole career has been such a high bar, that having him the middle of last year going, ‘Change the driver’, at his lowest, doubting himself…

“It really felt that we’d seen the best of Lewis, but what we’ve just seen is the best of Lewis, on the back of his strong start to the season.”

Coulthard went on to ponder Hamilton’s chances of turning that strong start to the season into a push for what would be a record-breaking eighth world title – pointing to Max Verstappen’s charge over the second half of 2025 for recent proof of what can be done.

With championship leader Kimi Antonelli retiring in the closing laps of the Barcelona race due to technical problems, Hamilton ended up cutting the young Italian’s advantage from 66 points to 41.

“He’s second in the World Championship, Mercedes have got reliability concerns, and that’s only going to get worse as the year goes on, so could we be talking about someone who’s in the hunt for the World Championship? Max came back from 100 points at this race and almost won it in Abu Dhabi,” said Coulthard.

“His whole career feels a bit Hollywood. I know we’ve been introduced to Hollywood with F1 The Movie, and all the success that’s there. If you’re Liberty [Media, F1’s commercial rights holders], it just doesn’t get better.”

Coulthard added: “Lewis has had his mojo since the beginning of the year, which is great to see. It may feel like we’re all jumping on a bandwagon, but the sport tells us the performances, and that was world-class.”

In addition to his gains in the Drivers’ Championship, Hamilton’s win helped Ferrari edge closer to Mercedes in the Teams’ standings – the Silver Arrows holding 262 points to the Italian marque’s 190.